WO Patent No. 2004/011315 (Inventor: Staargaard et al; Assignee: General Electric Company, USA), WO Patent No. 2004/056610 (Inventor: Staargaard; Assignee: General Electric Company, USA) and US Patent Application No. 2003/0077409 (Inventor: Schnell) all appear to disclose a process and system for inserting a hydro-formed metal insert into a mold of a molding machine, and then partially encapsulating or overmolding the formed insert with a molding material (such as a plastic resin). This approach includes using different types of machines, one type for forming and another type for molding.
European Patent Number 826,476 (Inventor: Buchholz; Assignee: Tecumseh Products Company, USA) appears to disclose loading and forming an insert (that is, a tube) in a single mold of a molding system, and then encapsulating or overmolding the insert with a molding material (such as a plastic resin). This approach includes performing the forming operation and the overmolding operation (operational steps that appears to be performed serially—one after the other) in the single mold.
An article titled Secondary Operations: Unique System Uses Press Motion As Punch and Die (published by Plastics World in September 1992, page 10) appears to disclose a molding system having a mold. With the mold opened, a press operator loads a metal insert (that is a metal buss bar) into the mold. As a press closes and clamps, a punch and die mechanism pierces a slug in the insert, and then a nylon-based molding material is injected into the mold to overmold the insert. The forming operation and the overmolding operation are performed sequentially (serially) in the same mold.
A document (dated October 1989, titled ALPHA—Multi-processing Technology and published by Krauss Maffei of Germany), appears to disclose the ALPHA molding system that appears to be an integration of several types of molding systems (such as, for example, a compression molding system, an injection molding system and/or a gas-pressure molding system). This arrangement appears to combine different molding materials into a molded article using different processes.
German Patent Number 1,130,155 (Inventor: Voumard et al; Assignee: Regoma Company Limited) appears to disclose a process for joining or welding a tube head to a tube body. An injection mold uses a sprue channel for injection of plasticized resin. The sprue channel serves to create the tube head and it is designed as an annular passage or as a ring of closely adjacent boreholes, which feeds directly into the vicinity of a connection site that welds the tube head and the tube body in a molding chamber. The plasticized resin is fed under pressure into the channel and completely fills the space intended for the tube head so that in this manner the tube head is formed and simultaneously welded to the end of the tube body of the preform. Apparently, it is required to avoid pronounced cooling of the plasticized resin before it reaches the welding site to avoid jeopardizing secured welding of the tube body with the tube head. It appears that the tube head must be welded to a tube body so that when the tube body is manually depressed, the contents (such as toothpaste, for example) will not egress from the weld line but will egress from the opening defined in the tube head. This process appears to be a serial execution of operational steps.